A C Powell, P Kang, J Farley, A Premkumar, M Patel, N Thawani, G Kallingal, P Wu, O Kalinkin, T Velazquez, D Dukes, J Lee, K McGeever, R Gagliano
The provision of complex surgical care in a population with high social vulnerability is safe and advances equity but is resource intensive. Further research is warranted to investigate the development of similar programs.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a Complex Abdominal and Pelvic Surgery (CAPS) program at a tertiary referral center in Arizona in providing complex surgical care for an underserved population METHODS: Thirty-day post-operative outcomes for mortality, complications, length of stay and readmission were compared among patients with low/low-medium and medium-high/high social vulnerability index (SVI) for 120 patients who underwent surgery with the CAPS program from 2019 to 2024.
RESULTS: There were no differences in outcomes between SVI groups. The 30-day mortality rate was 2% (2 patients). Seventy-four patients (62%) had at least one complication, of which most were Grade I or II complications. The median post-surgery length of stay was 10 days and the readmission rate was 24%.
CONCLUSION: The provision of complex surgical care in a population with high social vulnerability is safe and advances equity but is resource intensive. Further research is warranted to investigate the development of similar programs.